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  Apparatus to vary dimensions of a substrate during nano-scale manufacturingUSPTO Application #: 20060001857Title: Apparatus to vary dimensions of a substrate during nano-scale manufacturing Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a system to vary dimensions of a substrate, such as a template having a patterned mold. To that end, the system includes a substrate chuck adapted to position the substrate in a region; a pliant member; and an actuator sub-assembly elastically coupled to the substrate chuck through the pliant member. The actuator assembly includes a plurality of lever sub-assemblies, one of which includes a body lying in the region and spaced-apart from an opposing body associated with one of the remaining lever sub-assemblies of the plurality of lever sub-assemblies. One of the plurality of lever assemblies is adapted to vary a distance between the body and the opposing body. In this manner, compressive forces may be applied to the template to remove unwanted magnification or other distortions in the pattern on the mold. The pliant member is configured to attenuate a magnitude of resulting forces sensed by the substrate chuck generated in response to the compressive forces. (end of abstract) Agent: Molecular Imprints, Inc. Kenneth C. Brooks - Austin, TX, US Inventors: Anshuman Cherala, Byung-Jin Choi, Pawan Kumar Nimmakayala, Mario J. Meissl, Sidlgata V. Sreenivasan USPTO Applicaton #: 20060001857 - Class: 355072000 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060001857. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/576,879 filed Jun. 3, 2004, entitled "System and Method for Magnification and Distortion Correction during Nano-Scale Manufacturing," naming inventors Anshuman Cherala, Byung-Jin Choi, Pawan K. Nimmakayala, Mario J. Meissl and Sidlgata V. Sreenivasan; and is a divisional application of U.S. Patent Number (unassigned), Attorney Docket Number P208N196D196, filed herewith, entitled "System For Varying Dimensions Of A Substrate During Nano-Scale Manufacturing" naming inventors Anshuman Cherala, Byung-Jin Choi, Pawan K. Nimmakayala, Mario J. Meissl and Sidlgata V. Sreenivasan; a divisional application of U.S. Patent Number (unassigned), Attorney Docket Number P214N196D196, filed herewith, entitled "Method of Varying Dimensions of a Substrate During Nano-Scale Manufacturing," naming inventors Anshuman Cherala, Byung-Jin Choi, Pawan K. Nimmakayaia, Mario J. Meissl and Sidlgata V. Sreenivasan; and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/999,898, filed Nov. 30, 2004, entitled "System for Magnification and Distortion Correction during Nano-scale Manufacturing," naming inventors Anshuman Cherala, Byung-Jin Choi, Pawan K. Nimmakayala, Mario J. Meissl and Sidlgata V. Sreenivasan; which application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/576,879 filed Jun. 3, 2004, entitled "System and Method for Magnification and Distortion Correction during Nano-Scale Manufacturing," naming inventors Anshuman Cherala, Byung-Jin Choi, Pawan K. Nimmakayala, Mario J. Meissl and Sidlgata V. Sreenivasan. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The field of invention relates generally to imprint lithography. More particularly, the present invention is directed to reducing pattern distortions during imprint lithography processes. [0004] Micro-fabrication involves the fabrication of very small structures, e.g., having features on the order of micro-meters or smaller. One area in which micro-fabrication has had a sizeable impact is in the processing of integrated circuits. As the semiconductor processing industry continues to strive for larger production yields while increasing the circuits per unit area formed on a substrate, micro-fabrication becomes increasingly important. Micro-fabrication provides greater process control while allowing increased reduction of the minimum feature dimension of the structures formed. Other areas of development in which micro-fabrication has been employed include biotechnology, optical technology, mechanical systems and the like. [0005] An exemplary micro-fabrication technique is commonly referred to as imprint lithography and is described in detail in numerous publications, such as United States published patent applications 2004/0065976, entitled METHOD AND A MOLD TO ARRANGE FEATURES ON A SUBSTRATE TO REPLICATE FEATURES HAVING MINIMAL DIMENSIONAL VARIABILITY; 2004/0065252, entitled METHOD OF FORMING A LAYER ON A SUBSTRATE TO FACILITATE FABRICATION OF METROLOGY STANDARDS; and 2004/0046271, entitled METHOD AND A MOLD TO ARRANGE FEATURES ON A SUBSTRATE TO REPLICATE FEATURES HAVING MINIMAL DIMENSIONAL VARIABILITY, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The fundamental imprint lithography technique as shown in each of the aforementioned published patent applications includes formation of a relief pattern in a polymerizable layer and transferring a pattern corresponding to the relief pattern into an underlying substrate. To that end, a template is employed spaced-apart from the substrate with a formable liquid present between the template and the substrate. The liquid is solidified to form a solidified layer that has a pattern recorded therein that is conforming to a shape of the surface of the template in contact with the liquid. The substrate and the solidified layer are then subjected to processes to transfer, into the substrate, a relief image that corresponds to the pattern in the solidified layer. [0006] One manner in which to locate the polymerizable liquid between the template and the substrate is by depositing a plurality of droplets of the liquid on the substrate. Thereafter, the polymerizable liquid is concurrently contacted by both the template and the substrate to spread the polymerizable liquid over the surface of the substrate. It is desirable to properly align the template with the substrate so that the proper orientation between the substrate and template may be obtained. To that end, both the template and substrate include alignment marks. A concern with these processes involves distortions in the pattern resulting from, inter alia, extenuative variations in the imprinting layer and/or the substrate, as well as misalignment of the template with respect to the substrate. [0007] It is desired, therefore, to provide a system to reduce distortions in patterns, due to magnification and alignment variations, formed using imprint lithographic techniques. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] The present invention is directed toward a system to vary dimensions of a substrate, such as a template having a patterned mold. To that end, the system includes a substrate chuck adapted to position the substrate in a region; a pliant member; and an actuator sub-assembly elastically coupled to the substrate chuck through the pliant member. The actuator assembly includes a plurality of lever sub-assemblies, one of which includes a body lying in the region and spaced-apart from an opposing body associated with one of the remaining lever sub-assemblies of the plurality of lever sub-assemblies. One of the plurality of lever assemblies is adapted to vary a distance between the body and the opposing body. In this manner, compressive forces may be applied to the template to remove unwanted magnification or other distortions in the pattern on the mold. The pliant member is configured to attenuate a magnitude of resulting forces sensed by the substrate chuck generated in response to the compressive forces. These and other embodiments are discussed more fully below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lithographic system in accordance with the present invention; [0010] FIG. 2 is a simplified elevation view of a lithographic system shown in FIG. 1; [0011] FIG. 3 is a simplified elevation view of a mold spaced-apart from an imprinting layer, shown in FIG. 1, after patterning of the imprinting layer; [0012] FIG. 4 is a simplified elevation view of an additional imprinting layer positioned atop of the substrate, shown in FIG. 3, after the pattern in the first imprinting layer is transferred therein; [0013] FIG. 5 is an exploded view of an imprint head, actuator sub-assembly and template in accordance with the present invention; [0014] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a chucking system in accordance with the present invention; [0015] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of an orientation stage showing a template chuck and a template in accordance with the present invention; [0016] FIG. 8 is perspective view of the orientation stage shown in FIG. 7; [0017] FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a passive compliant device included in the orientation stage shown in FIG. 7 along with the template holder and the template in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; [0018] FIG. 10 is a detailed perspective view of the passive compliant device shown in FIG. 9; [0019] FIG. 11 is a side view of the passive compliant, device shown in FIG. 10, showing detail of flexure joints included therewith; [0020] FIG. 12 is a side view of the passive compliant device shown in FIG. 10; [0021] FIG. 13 is a side view of the compliant device, shown in FIG. 12, rotated 90 degrees; Continue reading... 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